


I Don't Care

by counting2fifteen



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 14:34:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21649078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/counting2fifteen/pseuds/counting2fifteen
Summary: Youtube parties suck, but at least they're not alone.  Title after the song by Ed Sheeran.
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Comments: 9
Kudos: 45





	I Don't Care

**Author's Note:**

> part of the [phanworkschallenge](https://phanworkschallenge.tumblr.com) advent calendar thing. It’s v cool, go check it out. Thanks to [sudden-sky](https://sudden-sky.tumblr.com) for the beta!

YouTube parties were so boring. All of the lights and cameras and networking, and other YouTubers trying to get him in their vlogs. It wasn’t that bad when he had friends there. Unfortunately, he only vaguely recognized a few faces in the crowd that night, and those he did recognize he was mostly trying to avoid.

And then Phil returned to the corner Dan had claimed as theirs, slipping a drink into Dan’s hand, and everything was okay again. “Thought you might need this,” Phil said.

“Oh thank god, the one person who makes these things bearable,” Dan said. “Alcohol.”

Phil bumped Dan’s shoulder. It was the only physical contact he was willing to risk in a room with so many cameras. “Just be careful. We don't want a repeat of last year."

Dan squinted. "What happened last year?"

Phil laughed. "Exactly."

"I did not get that drunk."

Phil shrugged. "I'm just saying, you might want to be careful. There are a lot more cameras this year."

Dan sighed and downed his drink. "Should we separate then? Divide and conquer?"

Phil scanned the room. "For a bit, maybe. Meet you back here in fifteen?"

"Only if you buy me more drinks."

"Deal. Later, though, okay? You need to be able to navigate these things while legally sober. For both of our sakes."

Dan sighed. Phil took things so seriously sometimes. "I was joking," he called as Phil walked away.

Phil turned back for just a moment. "Good," he said before turning away again.

Dan, who had only half been joking, spent the next half hour ducking into as many vlogs as he could, carefully guarding his drink and trying to make it seem as if he had been socializing all night. He fielded what felt like a thousand questions about where Phil was, all too aware that he was answering most of them on camera.

“Oh, he’s around somewhere,” he had just finished shouting at a camera (the music at these things really didn’t need to be so loud), when Phil appeared over his shoulder.

“Hey guys!” He waved at the camera.

Dan turned towards Phil, but not too much. “Hey, Phil!”

“Hey, Dan!”

“Where’d you go? I missed you.”

Phil smiled. “Aww, you missed me?”

“I’m only saying it once.”

Phil pouted.

“You whiny little-”

Phil interrupted. “Stop! Don’t finish that sentence.”

“We’re not on your channel anymore. You can’t censor me.”

They had drifted away from the camera and closer together, without even noticing.

“I’ll censor you whenever I want, Howell.”

“Oh yeah? I’d like to see you try, Lester.”

They were standing less than six inches apart.

Dan pulled himself away, regretfully.

“See you in another fifteen?”

Phil nodded. “Yeah.”

The next circuit seemed to go badly for Phil. When they met again, Phil scowled and pulled Dan’s drink out of his hands, downing it in a gulp.

“Hey,” Dan said mildly.

“Shut up, rat. I bought that drink.”

“With a credit card that connects to our joint bank account? How generous.”

Phil rolled his eyes. “Go buy your own drink.”

“Oh, Phil.” Dan couldn’t help teasing him. “You need to be able to navigate these events while legally sober. For both of our sakes.”

Phil looked at Dan, his expression dark. 

“Fine, fine,” said Dan, softening. “You’re an adult and I trust you to drink responsibly.”

Phil’s expression softened in return. Dan resisted the urge to kiss his forehead.

“Meet again in another fifteen minutes?” Dan asked.

“The fans are going to think you dumped me and moved out,” Phil said.

“You’re the one who dumped me, remember? For your wife and kids.”

Phil pouted.

Dan’s heart melted into a sticky mess inside his chest. “Fine. We can stick together.”

“Wanna leave?” Phil asked, standing close enough that Dan could have brushed their fingers together if they weren’t in public.

Dan shrugged. 

“What happened to just getting this over with?”

Dan smiled wistfully. “Separate hotel rooms.”

Phil sighed. “Why did we do that again?”

“We’re stupid, YouTube said they would pay for them, we underestimated how much we would miss each other, and we correctly estimated the number of cameras that would be here.”

Phil let their pinkies brush together for real this time. “Would anyone really notice?”

“You want to risk it?”

Phil’s response was so immediate, so sure, that it startled Dan. “Yes.”

Dan paused. Keeping their relationship status secret had been a joint decision, mostly for Dan’s benefit, but Phil had always been so careful, so cautious. “You really mean that?”

“You don’t?” Phil asked.

“I didn’t say that,” Dan said automatically. “It’s just… it’s a lot of things. It’s a risk, careerwise. And there’s my family. They can’t find out through some headline. We don’t always get along, but I owe them that, at least.” They weren’t talking about going back to their rooms anymore.

“I know. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pressure you or anything. I just meant… when you’re ready, I’m ready. I always have been. I always will be.”

“I know,” Dan said. He paused. “Thank you,” Dan added softly.

“Course,” Phil said.

They were silent for a moment.

Dan sighed. “Do you think anyone here gives a shit about me?”

Phil surveyed the room. “Other than me? Probably not.”

Dan rolled his eyes. “Great.”

“It’s not that bad. It’s just how it is.” How show business would always be, how any business that depended so much on appearance would be.

“I don’t like how it is,” Dan complained, a petulant note creeping into his voice.

“Then we’ll change it,” Phil said.

“You say that like it’s easy.”

Phil smiled. “With you it is.”

“That’s the cheesiest thing you’ve said all evening,” Dan said, but his cheeks were warm and hurt from smiling.

“Come on. Let’s go to my room. No one’s watching,” Phil said softly.

Dan looked around. No one was. “Let’s go.”


End file.
